Blood & Cigarettes in the Woods
by barelywriting
Summary: The Liars face a new danger when they get stranded in the woods after a camping trip gone wrong. When their fears and instinct to survive is tested, old wounds begin to open. Will they survive? Or will they have to bury one of their own? R&R please! (Reviews always encourage and motivate me to keep on writing!)
1. It Came with a Face

**It Came with a Face**

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"I don't understand why we have to carry all this stuff Hanna." I finally said after lugging two bins and a cooler to the Jeep. I didn't know why Hanna wanted to pack her entire closet for a five day camping trip with the girls. The trunk was filling up fast and we still haven't packed Spencer's or Aria's or Allison's things in it.

"Like this one, look!" I said after pulling out an end of what seemed like Hanna's cord charger.

"Seriously Hanna, you need a phone charger to go camping?!" I asked rhetorically while flashing the black cord in her face. Hanna crossed her arms and gave me her trademark rolling-eyes-with-an-irked-face look

"Okay, I know I don't need a charger, but you never know what could happen in that jungle that this cord might practically save our lives."

"Okay first off, we're going camping in the forest Han, not in some humid, tropical rainforest in the middle of Philly!" I manage to yell out from all the frustration. I swear, sometimes I don't know where she gets these ideas. "Second, what could a cord charger do to save us from near death?!"

"Tomato, tomahto and you never know!" Hanna replied.

"Whatever. I think that was the last packing gear, let's head to Spencer's. I don't know how we'll fit their things but it fits now and Spencer will figure this out."

"Yeah, tell your Dad thanks for letting us use it to go camping. All of us really needed some time off before school starts again."

I finally agreed with her on something. We all needed some time off.

Spencer didn't want to drive her SUV and Aria and my car couldn't fit all of our stuff, let alone Hanna's entire closet. It took some begging and some compromising but Dad finally said OK after a little push from my mom.

I looked at Hanna and nodded in agreement and began my way to the car then starting the ignition. Hanna packed herself inside the passenger's seat and pulled her seat belt down.

"I mean, this summer alone was just horrible. First Spencer's parents split up, then Aria's mom's wedding not-" Hanna trailed off at the last bit of her sentence. Sometimes she wants to talk about what happened with her and Zack but she cuts off midway.

"Hey. Hey. Look at me. It wasn't your fault Hanna. It never was. Zack is a creep and needs to be put away. What he did-," I took a breathe after realizing this conversation was going farther than any other that we've had. "What he did to you, wasn't your fault. It was his. He was the problem Hanna. OK?"

Hanna looked at me with her glazed blue eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. I held her hand to comfort her and told her it was going to be okay. Hanna turned her gaze from my mine and pulled her hand away. It was typical Hanna-move where she would run away when things got to uncomfortable.

"Don't forget Ali going bonkers last year with Mona and her passé." Hanna exclaimed after changing the subject.

I knew Hanna didn't want to continue talking about it so I just played along. I began imagining the scene from last year; it was Ali's first day coming back from Georgia after being gone for a year in Rosewood. A lot has changed and it was the same day that Mona and her friends decided to team up and just bury Allison from all the years she tormented them.

"I guess none of us had a decent year this year." I finally said after letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess too." It made me feel a little better that Hanna didn't bring up my sad story. I guess we can put that away too.

Hanna and I drove in silence for a few minutes and decided to talk about what we might see while camping. By the time we were guessing on what carnivorous animal would show up for its last dying meal, we had reached Spencer's house with Allison and Aria. Placing efficiency aside, all of us only took half an hour trying to pack all their stuff in with some organizing and delegating from Spencer and a little bit from Allison. I couldn't help but give Hanna a glare as we stared at Spencer squinting her brows to figure out where to squeeze the next packing gear.

"Wait, Aria. I think it'll be much better fitting your bedroll in between Ali's and the cooler by the corner." Spencer said while she was deep in organizing my packed Jeep.

"Uh, no Spence. This belongs here." Allison said as she pulled out the squeezed bedroll from the corner and placed it in between one of Hanna's packing gear and my bed roll.

The squabble had been going on for a few minutes and frankly we were all getting tired of it.

"Okay, you guys are both wrong. This looks better under the seat while rolled up." I said after pulling it for the last time and pushing it tight under the last set of seats next to the trunk. Both Spencer and Ali gave me a look but Aria and Hanna were smirking.

After finally loading the last packing gear, we began getting ourselves comfortable in the car, readying to drive off. Hanna sat next to me in the passenger's seat while Spencer and Aria sat in the back with Allison sitting in between them in the middle.

The drive was about seven hours, and we tried leaving in the crack of dawn to at least get their by early noon but needless to say we all overslept from our get together last night and we didn't wake up until noon, not even forgetting the time we used up packing all of our stuff inside the trunk. I was still a little hung over from last night- we all were. I'm guessing that's why Hanna and I have been arguing all day. Six hours in the trip, I finally noticed the fresh smell of pine trees and lush mountains. The paved road that went on for hundreds of miles finally turned into dirt and rocks with tall grasses and trees surrounded them. The altitude was getting higher too since the roads we were driving on was also a mountain, but the road cliffs didn't scare me, even though it was getting late. The sun was beginning to set and I was feeling sleepy. Spencer, Aria and Hanna offered to drive, but I was the best shape out of all of them and I was also the only one who knew where the cabin was. It was an old cabin that my grandparents had built a long time ago. I haven't been there in a few years, but I remember the smell of pine and redwood standing tall over the cabin through driving through the trees. I remember hiking to a basin that was a few miles off the cabin where the waterfall would light up from the sunset. I began remembering the shortcuts and corners that would get me to a berry bush, and then I would one by one pick them to taste their sweet flavor. I was so lost in my train of thought that I didn't even remember _seeing _it happen.

I woke up with the ringing sound in my left ear and the muffled yells and cries of somebody not too far away.

"She's gone OK! She's gone OK! She's gone! We need to help Em, I can't pull her out." I heard another's voice yell out.

Who's gone? I thought to myself.

I began to panic, but my body won't listen to my mind. I couldn't move my body anywhere, so I began to scan my surroundings.

An entire tree branch had fallen over the windshield. The glass had shattered and all the shards were draped all over the dock and on the empty seat next to mine. Half the tree branch was dangling outside the car with the other end hobbled over the car's hood and inside the dock. It was pressed up my chest to where I realize I was having a hard time breathing. Then I blacked out.

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	2. Cigarettes in the Woods

**Cigarettes in the Woods**

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I remember waking up and seeing a purple and orange blanket in the twilight. A cool breeze swept my way carrying the melodies that the crickets were singing. The night felt so cool and I just wanted to stay there forever and not move…

"She's waking up-"I heard someone say.

"Hey, Em. How are you feeling?" The voice became much clearer. It was Hanna, kneeling above me so I could see her.

"I guess… I'm okay," I began to mumble. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Spencer finally came into my view.

I began to pull myself up and it hurt like hell using my right hand. I quickly pulled it next to me and used the rest of my body to push myself up.

"There was an accident," Spencer began.

"It was some creepy guy … he was just standing there in the middle of the street." Hanna trailed off. "None of us saw him right away so you swerved to avoid hitting him."

"Where is he now?" I asked distorted.

"I don't know… we didn't hit him for sure. We just drove off the road and now I don't know where we are." Spencer continued.

The memories began flooding back to me. We were driving just before dusk was hitting. Right before we made a turn, a faceless man was standing in the middle of the street. It was too late to hit the brakes, so I had to turn the wheel, regretfully driving us off the road.

I guess Spencer saw my face because she began rubbing my shoulder. "It wasn't your fault Em. We didn't see him and we couldn't just hit him. Most of us are okay anyway."

"Most of us?" I said surprised. "Where's Ali and Aria?" I began scanning my surroundings again but a sharp pain began pressing against my chest. I began to grunt and heave.

"Easy their killer," I heard Ali say. "We're all alive… I guess for now." Allison came up from behind me then immediately sat against a tree near us. She pulled out a cigarette and began lighting it.

"Geez, Ali- when did you start smoking?" Hanna blurted out while panning the air with her hand.

"I didn't. I found this a couple of feet away from the car. I thought that it might help me calm down. I thought it was yours Spence. Well, want one anyway?" Allison said while holding one out to Hanna.

Hanna rolled her eyes and walked away. I couldn't help notice that we were missing someone.

"…where's Aria?" I finally remembered.

Hanna sat down next to another tree close by and practically ignored my question while Allison kept blowing ring smokes with her cigarette then turning her head next to her. The only person left to ask was Spencer. I kept my eyes at her for the longest time until she finally spoke.

"She's not looking too good Em." Spencer said, broken. "The branch that finally stopped the car from toppling over smashed into the rear windshield of the Jeep. It went through our stuff, destroyed most of it and punctured through Aria's side. At first we thought it was just a nip… but when we got her out…we realized there was so much blood."

"Oh my God" I heard myself crack. "…this is all of my fault. All of it. I shouldn't have driven, we should just all stayed at home and called this trip for another day. We were all too tired and hung over, what were we thinking…oh god, Aria. Fuck…" I began rambling.

"Hey. Hey! Em, this wasn't your fault, okay! Some creep was standing- almost waiting for us to make that turn." Spencer growled.

I began to calm down a little bit, the pain in my chest was still dwindling and I couldn't help but ask where Aria was. Allison and Hanna looked at me dumbfounded as if I asked a stupid question. Spencer burrowed her brow at me, squinting at my two puffy eyes.

"Em… you can't see her? She's right next to Ali." Hanna said almost like a whisper.

My eyes squinted as I looked towards Allison and began seeing the outline of a body hunched over. Aria looked like she was sleeping with her back slightly leaning against the tree wrapped around a blanket that she was using in the car. There was some blood seeping through the blanket right above her waist and I couldn't believe I didn't see her earlier. I began rubbing my eyes as if there was something in them and that's when Spencer grabbed my wrist.

"Em, I don't know if you feel it, but your eye got a little injured from the crash. I thought it was just cosmetic- you have a deep cut right here." She gently brushed her fingers over my eyes and I felt it stinging. She placed her hand down to show me some blood that came from my cut. "…but I guess it's also impairing your vision." Spencer said.

"Okay, I'm sorry about your eye Em and I love you, I really do. But we got bigger things to worry about-"Hanna cutting Spencer of.

Spencer shot a look at Hanna, but she knew and I knew it too that Hanna was right. Allison began laying Aria down on the ground and unraveling the blanket around her.

"She looks so pale…" Allison said while looking at Aria.

"We need to get out of her and get her to a hospital!" Hanna yelled out of a panic. So many thoughts were probably going in her head.

"How?!" Spencer asked as if it was so impossible. "We don't know where we are! The car is literally destroyed, we can't really move Aria since if we don't know what else can be broken, and for all we know there is a psycho in these woods waiting for us like little pigs to be harvested!"

We were all quiet for a second. We needed to figure out how to patch up Aria quick, but the last part about the psycho in the woods hit us all pretty deep.

"You don't think…-A followed us here…?" Allison finally spoke out in almost a whisper. She grabbed Aria's head and cradled her around her arms.

"No… -A's dead remember… Shauna fell off the stage. We were all there." I finally said after remembering the events of that day. In that moment, a surge of wind swept through the trees and blew the leaves and fallen branches on the ground. Then an imminent silence came, followed by a single branch cracking from a few feet away. We all froze and looked at each other. The sun was almost setting and we needed to figure out our next move or else we wouldn't live to see it the next day.

"Is anyone there?" Hanna yelled from the distance. No one and nothing replied. The idea of somebody being with us in these woods and capable of hurting us was nerve-wrecking.

"Okay, we need to find shelter. Em, can you walk?" Spencer snapping out of the chaos.

I pushed myself up, tripping one step backwards before I finally got my balance. I was all there, complete- in one piece. I only hurt my right wrist and I was painful moving it around. It was difficult breathing most of the time, but I was fine nonetheless.

I nodded to Spencer and we all stared at her. She knew what to do. She knew how we can survive this.

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	3. Wounds That Burn

**Chapter Three - Wounds That Burn**

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It took an hour for us to find shelter under a boulder's cavity. Hanna was the first one to notice it even in the shrinking darkness. The cavity itself had plant vines growing over the entrance. Spencer managed to cut it down with her hatchet and proceeded to enter. We were cautious going inside, readying our camping tools like weapons if a wild animal jumped us. By the time we realized it was empty, we began placing camp inside.

Hanna began starting a fire using the twigs and dry moss that she could find around us. Everything outside was becoming moist and damp and soon rain was falling. Allison and I laid Aria down, still unconscious from the impact of the crash. Apparently she was awake once they pulled her out of the car, but passed out after then. Spencer began fiddling inside the first aid duffle bag that she insisted we bring. We only brought what we thought would help hold us for a few days, knowing that after the fifth day- our parents will start to look for us.

Spencer pulled the duffle bag next to Aria and began unbuttoning her shirt. The shirt itself was damp with her sweat and her blood and it was a miracle that she was still alive after an hour and a half. The thin towel that they had taped around her abdomen stuck onto her skin when Spencer gently pulled it out.

"Good, she's not losing blood as much anymore. Some of it had started to clot." Spencer began while she worked on cleaning the wound.

Aria in her sleep began to wince and cry in pain, and Allison immediately swooped in next to her to hold her hand.

"Her cut is pretty deep, but I think if we can just close it up, we can buy her a few more days. If it gets infected, that might be a different story." Spencer trailed off.

"What do we need to do?" Hanna asked.

"We have two options." She replied. "I can try and sow it up, but it might get worst… and even then, her stitches has a high chance of coming out because this sewing set is crap." Spencer cried, sliding the sewing set in front of Hanna and I. "It's not made for-" Spencer almost choking up. "It's not made for these kind of situations, okay?"

Spencer was beginning to crack. Out of all of us, Aria and Spencer were the closest. The two of them had the same sarcasm and humor and who truly understood each other. And now her best friend is dying in front of her.

"What's the other option," Allison asked, her eyes glossy all over.

"We can burn it." Spencer said, suddenly unhinged.

"Wait- what do you mean burn it?" Hanna asked, confused.

"I grabbed a small pan before we left. I wasn't thinking of using it to cook. I was thinking of using the bottom to burn her wound." Spencer continued.

"It's made out of steel," her voice began to crack again, "and if we can just use it to burn the raw wound around it, it'll close it up, it has a lower chance of getting infected and it'll heal faster."

Spencer wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt and took the small round pan out of her bag. It was about two and a half inches in diameter, the type that you only cook eggs with. Her hands were shaking as she was gripping on the pan handle since we knew that this was something that we seriously needed to consider for Aria.

"Will it hurt…?" Aria finally spoke after waking up.

We all turned to her direction, surprised that she heard most of our conversation, and her eyes were a little bit awake. Allison was still gripping onto her left hand and pushing her hair outside of her face.

The cave was big enough to fit us all, but small enough that we could be almost right next to each other. Spencer wasn't right next to Aria but she was close enough to watch her staring up the cave ceiling. We knew that she could hear us, but I guess she didn't want to move around and to just keep still to avoid any more pain.

"…Yes." Spencer finally said. "It'll hurt, like a bitch." She finally finished.

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Aria's head laid onto Allison's lap as she kneeled. She held on both of Aria's hands while beginning to sing a song. Aria's eyes didn't falter from Allison; she kept staring at Allison's blue eyes with tears falling down on hers. Hanna sat next to Aria's feet, holding her ankles so she wouldn't hurt herself or Spencer. Spencer sat on the left side of Aria, prepping things right before we started and I just sat there and watched. I was completely helpless. My wrist was already swelling and I could barely move it. I crashed a car with four of my friends in it and now one of them is dying and I can't even help with anything because of my broken wrist! I felt so helpless and stupid! I couldn't face my guilt, so I just stood up and began walking towards the entrance.

"Where are you going?" Hanna asked.

"This is happening to Aria because of my stupid mistake." I said gritting my teeth. I was so consumed by guilt and feeling so powerless to help her.

"Em, it's not your fault, okay? We already talked about this." Hanna replied, attempting to comfort me.

I knew she was right, but still, I needed to get some air. "I'll just be outside okay. I'll be back in a few." I finally said, almost whispering.

I got out of the cave and in an instance I felt the breeze hit my face. It was so relaxing, so comforting. I had to keep walking away from the cave to breathe it all. I was far enough that I can still see the glowing light from the fire inside of the cave, and close enough that I could still hear Aria's screams. The yelling and the screaming stopped and went, undergoing for almost half an hour. I began covering my ears to make it stop until I felt something graze my skin from behind.

I quickly opened my eyes and carefully uncovered my ears. I began to feel something behind me, something moving. In the complete blink of darkness, I can only see the outlines of the trees and small logs, but for anything else, they were silhouettes of things that didn't exist in the day time. My heart began to beat faster, and the pressure of my chest began to overcome me yet again. I was so consumed by my guilt with Aria that I forgot that I was in the middle of the woods in this black inch of darkness. I can only imagine what kind of animal was inching its way to me. I sat there slowly closing my eyes, afraid to face death, frozen and voiceless. The last words that might leave my lips could be my last. I am a coward, I told myself, unable to face the problems that I had made. But as I delve deeper and darker into my thoughts, the movement behind me became footsteps. Instead of a four-legged animal, it sounded human, with footsteps stepping on branches and crackling leaves. The sounds were getting louder and I knew they were getting closer, close enough that I could feel the hot breath against my nape.

"Ugh, there you are Em." I finally jumped, finding Hanna standing almost 10 feet away behind me with a flashlight in her hand. I was confused, was it Hanna this entire time? No, it couldn't be. Somebody else was standing so close to me.

"How long have you been standing there?" I quickly asked my mind in a confused fog.

"Uh, like just now. It's really hard to see things around her Em… and it's giving me the creeps." Hanna replied. "But I remember seeing you from the cave with your necklace reflecting from the flashlight… that's why I knew to head onto this direction."

I felt my legs grow weak and terror struck my body.

"Hanna?" I whispered, barely able to hear it through the breezy wind.

"Yeah?" Hanna replied.

"I'm not wearing a necklace." My voice was so stiff, my throat almost about to crack.

Hanna smiled, as if about to laugh. But she knew I wouldn't be joking at a time like this. Her face stopped smiling and she quickly walked up to me and grabbed my hand. She began pulling me towards the direction of the cave light, and even then, I can still hear the same footsteps behind us.

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	4. Sucking in Air

**Chapter Four – Sucking in Air**

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"What was that Em?!" Hanna yelled as we both entered the cave.

My eyes were scanning the room; I was worried on how Aria was doing. Spencer took a glance at us while we were yelling but turned her eyes back to Aria while cleaning her closed wound. Allison was right behind Aria, using her body as Aria's weight so that she can sit up.

"I-I don't know." I said, practically telling myself. My mind was in a haze. A few seconds ago, I was petrified to the bone, and now I'm running out of air and wrapping my mind around Aria's health.

"How is she?" I said out of breath.

"She's going to be fine. She's pretty drained right now, and she's in a lot of pain. I found some antibiotics that can fight off the infection, but I couldn't find any pain killers." Spencer replied while still keeping her eyes on Aria.

"Em- wait. What happened outside? Did you see something?" Hanna loudly said, trying to grab my attention back again.

"Can you guys shut up for a second?!" Allison suddenly yelled. "We had to burn Aria's skin and flesh with a scalding cooking pan. So, I think the entire universe would really appreciate it if you could turn your voices down so that we can all think about if we made the right decision for her."

Allison was livid. She had kept her entire emotions under control since the crash and it was in this moment when she finally needed to unleash all of it. Hanna sat down to where she was standing and wrapped her arms around her knees. I sat next to her and did the same thing while timing my breathing to normal. I needed my chest to deviate from the pain, since it was just getting worst.

I decided to just push the thoughts that scared me shitless out in the woods, so I began watching Spencer tending to Aria's wounds. Spencer was dabbing some alcohol pads on Aria's abdomen. She was squirming and flinching whenever Spencer would touch her tender skin around the wound. The puncture itself was gone. All that was there was a bright reddish pink skin the stood out from Aria's pale skin. I noticed that her eyes were closed, but I knew she was awake. Sweat was creeping at the corners of her head, and she was breathing louder than I was.

"I-I don't want it anymore…" She blurted out. "Please- Spence…Spence- stop." Aria was pleading for the pain to stop, but we couldn't find any pain killers. Spencer began comforting her, telling her that it was going to be okay.

Aria finally fell asleep and Spencer just finished wrapping the last end of gauze around Aria's abdomen. Both Allison and Spencer laid her to sleep, then finally huddled around Hanna and I.

"Okay, spill. You guys were yapping like Bonnie and Clyde earlier. What happened out there?" Spencer finally asked.

"I-I don't know, I was outside, and I thought I heard… and felt somebody behind me." I said, sounding less certain.

"Are you sure it wasn't just an animal?" Allison asked, incredulously.

"I think I saw someone too. I thought I saw Emily standing near the trees wearing a necklace that reflected against my flashlight, but when I got to her she wasn't even standing or wearing the necklace." Hanna added, but a little ambivalent to what she was saying.

"It could have been some animals' eyes. Like an owl or a wolf?" Spencer sounded frustrated; we've been awake for more than 12 hours and the stress and the trauma had been weighing over us.

"No, no." I added, changing my second "no" to almost a fleeting whisper.

"I thought I heard an animal, like a big animal. But when I started listening into the footsteps, it wasn't dragging or shuffling four feet. It was walking on two. What huge animal can walk in two's in these woods you guys?" They knew I was asking rhetorically, because I was certain it wasn't an animal. It was human. Somebody else was out there.

"I don't know Em, it could have been a bear." Spencer added, trying to find all options that can dispute what I experienced. "Plus, you're looking a little pale. How have you been feeling lately?"

Hanna looked down, dropping the entire subject since we both didn't really see anything or wasn't sure what we heard. She just grabbed my fingers and twirled them around mine. I was so close to her skin that I can feel her heart beating and racing, then coming to a slow unlike mine's.

"No, I heard something. There's somebody out there!" I stood up and yelled out. I was running out of breath and I could feel myself wavering. "There's something out there, and I don't understand why you guys are so calm about this!"

"Ali, do you think a pack of cigarettes will just be laying around in the middle of nowhere?!" Allison looked confused, not knowing how to answer my question.

"And god, Hanna, swear to me you didn't hear the same footsteps that were running after us towards the caves?!" But all that Hanna did was she stood up with me, trying to grab my wrist since she knew I was panicking.

"-A could be out there and we're all in one place huddled in this janky, musty cave- ready to be harvested like little pigs! Right Spence?! Isn't that what you SAID earlier?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, and air began seeping away.

"Em, I need you to calm down. You don't look so good…" Hanna continued.

But I didn't. I kept yelling, angry that nobody would believe me. I was angry, that they were sympathizing with me even though I didn't deserve it and angry and definitely terrified that there was somebody out there stalking us in these woods. So I went outside, running this time. I didn't care where I was going or the fact that I could barely see anything. I wanted to run and face that psycho that has been scaring me shitless.

I felt the wind against my face and my feet touching the ground as I ran as fast that I could. I was trying to escape my fears and my guilt from the accident and face the ones that angered me the most. But my lungs were failing me and it became a struggle to breathe until I couldn't breathe anything at all. From all the chaos and blindness, I managed to trip against a tree root that led me toppling forward down a hill. When I hit the ground, I felt my shoulder crack and my chest was burning. I tried arching my back to release my chest from the pain but all that came out was a gunk of liquid coming out of my throat. My throat was on fire and my chest felt like it was crushed by a ton of bricks. I kept gasping for air and vomiting until Hanna and Spencer showed up right next to me.

"Em, hey. Hey!" Hanna tried grabbing my shoulders, but an immediate pain shot through it and I cried out in agony.

Hanna's flashlight kept blaring through my eyes, so I kept pushing them away when I merely wanted the light to go away.

"Spence, she's hurt. I see blood on the ground.." Hanna exclaimed.

"Wait, Han. I think Em threw up this blood…" Spencer said as she began wiping some blood off my lips.

The two carried me both back to the cave with both of my arms slung over the shoulder. I was in so much pain, I couldn't walk or talk and I could barely breathe. By the time we got back, Allison and Aria were awake, with Aria leaning against Allison.

Hanna and Spencer laid me on my back with Spencer asking too many questions that I could barely comprehend.

"Em, Emily. I need you to not pass out on me, okay?" Spencer initially said.

"Hanna, get me some towels." Spencer said with urgency.

"What happened Hanna? Spencer?" Allison asked, distressed while Aria slept on her lap.

"I'm not quite sure, but I think there's blood or liquid in her lungs. It's choking her." Spencer fleetingly said. "Emily, please… can you hear me? I need you to nod or move your head sideways when I ask you something, okay?"

I was gasping for air, desperate and afraid that everything in me will be gone. But I couldn't falter just yet. I nodded, staggering while I agreed to what she asked.

"Can you breathe through your nose?" Spencer asked, not wavering from my eyes for even one second. I shook my head sideways.

"Can you breathe through your mouth?" I didn't understand the question. I could breathe through it, but barely, almost sucking in through a thin straw and nothing was coming in.

I didn't know how to tell her that I could but couldn't at the same time so I kept staring at her until she placed her right ear on my mouth that was gaped open, carefully feeling the hot breath coming out.

"She's barely breathing; I'm going to perform CPR."

In an instant, Spencer ripped my grey long-sleeve shirt from my neckline and then my sports bra, leaving my chest and breast exposed. She placed her right ear against my chest as she did with my mouth and began listening in to my dissipating breathing cycles. Within seconds, she began pushing through my chest and I could hear my ribs cracking from the pressure she was giving. In less than a minute, she began giving me air through my lips, where my mind felt at peace.

I could feel myself falling out of consciousness, just staring at the dark ceilings, listening to the crackle of fire next to me. There was an odd melody playing in my mind that kept my mind relaxed and at eased. It felt like it was time, but just when I was about to let go, my body began vomiting blood that left my lungs glutted earlier. Hanna turned me on my side and a combination of bile and blood left my system.

"What's wrong with her Spence?" Hanna stammered, worry on her face.

"I-I'm not quite sure…" Spencer stuttered while rubbing my back. "I thought about it when that branch hit her hard on her chest, but she seemed fine… she had all the symptoms though. But god, Em…. Why didn't you let us know you were in so much pain…" I heard Spencer said as she began crying.

I was listening in to what she was saying and apologizing in my mind as Hanna and Spencer both cried and wrapped their arms around me. I couldn't let them know it was painful and that it became almost unbearable and impossible to breathe. I couldn't let them know that my lungs felt like it was being seeped into thick liquid and that it was my blood all this time. I couldn't let them know that I felt drowning half the time, because I knew that everything that's happening at this moment was my entire fault and maybe I deserved all of this.

My body was still turned on the side when I felt Hanna drape a blanket over me. She had managed to clean up the vomit that was right in front of me by covering it with fresh dirt. The smell of vomit slowly dissipated from the cave and I laid where I was, again, frozen and voiceless. It seemed as though it was a recurring pattern nowadays, I thought to myself.


	5. The Truth Is

**Chapter 5 – The Truth Is**

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I woke up with Ali's arm around me. Her fingers barely touched my arm inside the fabric sling that I guess they made for me. She smelled like dirt and pines, letting me savor her earthly smell. It had been such a long time since we fell asleep like this, almost two months ago before we broke up. I couldn't stand all her lies she kept telling me and I couldn't be in-between our friends when I knew she was lying. But now I didn't care about that, I just wanted to be in her arms.

Alison began to move, she took her arm off of me and I heard her shuffle her feet with the others. As Aria and I laid there on the floor, I began listening in to the three girls' conversation.

"How are they, Ali?" I heard Hanna speak softly, barely able to hear her voice.

"Em's resting. She's been talking in her sleep again… she does that when she's stressed out." Ali replied. I forgot all the times Ali woke me up in the middle of the night to soothe my nightmares.

"Aria's doing better." She continued, "She's actually coherent now when she talks".

"Yeah, I'll go check in Aria's wound in a bit. Those antibiotics are really knocking her out." Spencer added.

"Wait, Spence… what's wrong with Emily? It came so sudden, but you knew didn't you?" Hanna asked.

"I think I can better answer your question, Han." Alison intervened.

I began listening intently, wondering what Spencer and Ali was keeping from us.

"Two summers ago, before I left to Georgia, I got into a car accident with Spencer and a friend who was older. I was driving and my friend was at the passenger's seat while Spencer sat in the back. We were all high and wasted and I lost control of the car and crashed against a tree… just like how the accident went. We all came out of it with a few cuts and bruises and decided to leave the car then since Spence and I were underage and didn't have a license and my friend didn't want to take the fall. They eventually found the car and my parents reported it to the police as stolen and we thought we all got away from it. Until my friend started having chest pains and in a few days she couldn't breathe then started throwing up blood. She was with me at the time when my mom called 9-1-1 and they rushed her to the hospital and the doctors told us that she had chest trauma- pulmonary contusion to be exact… just your fancy medical word for drowning in your own blood." Alison paused and cleared her throat.

"It's when liquid builds up in your lungs after receiving some sort of blunt force trauma on your chest. This is exactly what is happening to Emily, just less vocal on her pain. If I only got her to the hospital, owned up to what I did, she would still be alive today." Alison finished.

"I started interning at the hospital that summer, with the help of my sister's fiancé, Wren of course…" Spencer added, her voice hoarse and rigid.

"…that's why you know more than first aid…" Hanna trailed off, putting the pieces together.

"Yeah…But it's not yet over. Yesterday, she vomited the liquid that had built up in her lungs. But she wasn't supposed to throw it up." Spencer continued, her voice sounding deep in thought.

"So liquid is going to keep building up…but we need to drain it out some other way…?" Alison added as if she had a revelation.

"I need to make an incision on her side where we can puncture her lungs slightly and drain the liquid out. But by then, it'll be much more difficult to move her. We need to keep her steady or do things that won't tire her easily."

It was silent for a moment, I can only imagine their faces when Spencer said incision, puncture and drain all in one sentence.

"We shouldn't tell her, should we?" Hanna asked,

"Yeah, it wouldn't be a good idea." Alison replied.

"Considering how she's been avoiding to ask for our help and she's been in massive pain since yesterday- I think it's safe to safe that she won't listen or tell us how she's feeling, at least for now." Spencer finished.

I began thinking about what Spencer said and how they all agreed to it. Have I been this stubborn this entire time? I just feel so guilty…even now I can feel my heart rate going faster and faster.

"Well- I'm going back to sleep. Sunrise is in a few hours, and I would really love to spend this time with Em." Alison playfully said.

"What is it going on with you two?" Spencer blankly asked.

"What do you mean by that?" I can imagine Ali saying that with a smile on her face.

"It's just confusing to us, that's all." Hanna finished.

It was silent after and I felt Alison huddle next to me again with her arm wrapping over body. It was nice having her so close to me, and I could feel my heart rate go down. But I couldn't stop thinking about her playfulness when they asked her about Ali and I. And I couldn't help think about the story that she told Spencer and Hanna. I couldn't help but wonder why she never told me about it. We broke up a couple of months ago and so she had an entire year to share that with me. I was wondering if she was keeping something else…

"Em, you awake?" Ali asked, probably wondering why my heart beat was blaring like a fire truck.

I didn't reply, and she didn't say anything after that either.

* * *

I woke up with the smell of beans and some sausages cooking in the fire. Spencer already had a plate that she shared with Aria while eating. Hanna was cooking some more and Ali was scribbling something on a notepad.

Alison was right across from me, and eventually she noticed that I was blankly staring at her with half-opened eyes.

"Nice of you to join us, killer." Alison sounded gaudy even, adding a wink at the end of 'killer'.

"Perfect timing Em, I just finished cooking your plate and mines." Hanna added.

I looked at Ali, wondering where her plate was.

"Oh, don't worry about me Em. I already finished eating. Hanna served me the first plate." Alison presumptuously said as she whisked herself across from me, leaving to go outside.

I was a little confused. But what did I expect…. She would eat with…me? It was so passive, so discreet… it was so…Ali.

"Are feeling okay Em? Does your chest still hurt? You have that weird look on your face." Hanna asked so candidly while taking a spoonful of beans in her mouth.

"No-no," I said as I gently got up and shook my head, no. "I'm just hungry".

"Good. I made extra for you and me. We have like a big trip ahead of us." Hanna declared.

"What trip?" I asked.

"We're going to find the cabin." Alison said as she walked back inside the cave. "We talked earlier this morning while you and Aria were sleeping, and since we're running out of water and our food ration is really limited, not to mention that when our parents do start looking for us, it'll take to almost impossible to find where we are now. These woods are huge. The first place they'll be looking for is the cabin."

"But we need you to show us the way. We know that the cabin is next to the waterfall in the big basin. And the basin runs for twenty miles long. We crashed just a little over twenty miles that would either leave us over or less than twenty miles east from that." Alison continued.

"How do you know the basin is east from here?" Aria asked, her voice barely a croak.

"That was the tricky part," Spencer replied this time. "Ali and I had to scavenge the area where there would be signs of water."

"And?" Aria curious to know how they did it.

"Obviously, we found more vegetation and some mud towards the east, plus I remember Em telling us that when the sun sets, the light hits the water just perfectly where a rainbow can be shown. So it just makes sense to go east from here." Spencer finally finished.

"The last part was a little lame, Spence." Aria jokingly said.

"Nope. It makes perfect sense to me. And I'm the smart one so you guys should find it sensible too." Spencer smiled at Aria, glad that the brunette was finally acting like herself.

"Okay, you guys are a riot. We need to start packing soon if we want to find this cabin before sunset. It's just dawn, so we have about 10 hours. 20 miles should get us about 7 hours there, but it'll take us longer carrying all these things and with Aria…" Hanna butted in.

I didn't know how to react when Hanna didn't mention about me. I mean, they did talk about going easy about the topic this morning. But I know that trip will be a hassle, I really need to push myself, but not too hard.

After we finished eating, Hanna started packing our things. Everyone and even Aria ordered me not to move since apparently a slight discomfort can leave me gasping for air like last night. I sat right next to her while her head laid down on my lap. I was watching the girls pack our things and also watched her closing her eyes. I find this meditation of hers so peaceful even if I'm just a spectator. That's why I cringe when she's not in her peaceful sessions.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Aria, trying to hide the worry on my voice so that she won't be worried.

"Uh, it's a weird feeling." Aria started as she rubbed the bandages that were going along her stomach. "It's feels like I don't know where things go in my body anymore. Where everything was rearranged and burned to put back together again" She glanced at me, "… and I'm scared that if I move just an inch or let these bandages off that my skin will just split itself up open again like my puncture wound last night."

I didn't know what to say to that. It did sound like a weird feeling, something that I never experienced before altogether.

"How about you?" She finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Um, just tired all the time, I guess." I replied, fleeting at my last couple of words.

I can feel Aria's eyes burning through me, "C'mon Em. You have to let go of that…we all survived and it wasn't your fault. For all we know –A is behind all of this crazy shit going on." Aria finished.

"Wait, how'd you know-" I quickly asked as I looked down on her, bewildered.

"I'm broken below me, Em. My ears and eyes still work fine." Aria replied. "So tell me, how are you feeling."

I thought for a second, how I really felt, and remembered what Spencer and Ali, and Hanna said last night.

"Breathing is really hard." I said closing my eyes, trying to remember how I've been feeling. "I get chest pains almost every fifteen minutes. And talking becomes a chore." I paused for a bit trying to breathe more air in while Aria placed a grip on my hand. "And when breathing comes to impossible, I have to stop and breathe really deep, deeper than prepping before a swim meet, deeper than actually being in water already. Deeper as if I'm trying to catch that last few breaths in my lungs."

"And then, I have to pretend that I'm fine, because I don't want you guys to worry. I'm so sorry, Aria." I finally opened my teary eyes to look at Aria, but then I realized that everybody else had been listening, standing to where they were.

"Don't be sorry, this was never you fault." Aria said gripping my hand a little tighter.

Spencer, Hanna and Alison all started to walk towards me then sat around us to give each other a hug.

"You know we'll be okay after this." Alison added.

"Yeah, we just need Spence to stop bossing us around." Hanna interjected.

"What? I'm like Meredith Grey mixed in with Bear Grylls. I'm practically awesome." Spencer jokingly said as she defended herself.

"But, you know just to get this through your head Em." Spencer began again, "Nobody wanted to cancel this trip, even if we all were hung over- so that was never going to happen. And even then, you're like the most decent driver out of all of us AND combined and if one of us drove that night we wouldn't have made in a mile out of Rosewood...alive" She continued.

"It was just that weird guy in the middle of the road…" Spencer trailed off.

"Do you think it was -A?" I asked, wondering what they really thought.

"I don't know, I really don't want it to be, but if it is, we have to be ready when we go out there." Spencer said as she stood up.


	6. Let's Kiss and Make-Up

**Let's Kiss and Make-Up**

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Spencer and the girls finished packing and gave Aria and I barely anything to hold and carry. Aside from my bedroll, Aria and I was plainly carrying imperishable food like dried oats and tuna packs. Everybody else took the weight to carry Aria's bedroll and our clothes that would last us until tomorrow. It did help me breathe a little easier though.

Aria was a different story. She was barely carrying everything but her knees barely gave her any strength to move. Knowing that we were the slowest ones, I volunteered trekking with her and even helping her walk.

"What are you doing?" Hanna asked, as if confused to what I was doing.

"I'm…helping Aria?" I replied, even more confused than her.

"No you're not." She started, "Ali is going to help Aria walk, I'm going to help you walk." She finished.

I looked at her even confused than the last. "I don't need help walking."

"Emily, you can barely stand. Your knees are shaking like you're about to break. You already looked flushed from carrying your bedroll. You need help. It's time for you to start asking for help and stop doing all the work." Hanna finished.

I looked at my legs and knees, and I couldn't help but notice that she was right. The weird part was I barely felt them shaking.

Spencer led us with a compass and by looking at the sun. The map was practically useless since we didn't exactly know where we were. We stopped and took a break almost every forty five minutes to the hour with me catching my breath and Spencer checking Aria's wound and changing it if needed.

Halfway through, we decided to have another break, but making lunch this time. Hanna made fire and we all sat around it us Alison served the last bit of sausages and some potatoes. I noticed that there was a little less than this morning on our plates and I wondered how we were doing with the rations.

"How are we doing with food?" Spencer asked Ali, as if she was reading my mind.

"We have a couple of the big meaty stuff that I'm using now since we're using up a lot of our energy. These are the last bit of sausages and now we just have some potatoes, a little bit of rice and a bunch of unperishable goods. All of that can hold us for another day and a half." Alison replied.

"So that means we have three days before they start looking for us." Hanna added.

"We would need to use the basin to survive, fish and water and all." Spencer said as she took a chunk of potato bits in her mouth, her eyes steadily looking at the fire.

"Should we be worried?" I heard Aria tiredly ask.

"No, we'll be fine." Spencer said changing her worried look to a certain one.

"Yeah, I heard fresh water fish has like a million nutrients for the body. Plus Spencer here has gone fishing with her Dad like a bajillion times." Hanna interjected, once again.

"You're really annoying when you say 'like' a lot." Spencer said flashing a stoic face to her.

Everybody bursted out laughing and began talking about what else Spencer's skills were. And before we know it we were comparing her to her actual sentiment of Meredith/Grylls persona.

After we finished eating, we rested for a few minutes to let our food digest and after half an hour, we began our trek once again.

The pine trees were towering above us and the leaves around it was just much beautiful when the sun is past noon in the sky. We kept hearing the gusts of wind and leaves breezing by. Even though it felt peaceful, we still kept looking all around us. Sometimes we would hear twigs breaking only to realize it was just deer. We were getting paranoid and it wasn't looking good. By the time we realized that the sun was going to set in an hour or so, Spencer decided that we should make camp.

The woods in the day time didn't scare me particularly, but at night and especially out in the open with only some bedrolls, it was nerve-wrecking.

We decided to place our bedrolls in a circular pattern that surrounded the fire. Hanna made the point that we can see each other from all angles and everything behind us. Spencer thought it was a great idea, but she also started sharpening her hatchet then placed it under her bedroll.

I cooked this time, much of the disapproval of everybody but I insisted that this was actually making me relaxed.

"How's the hole, Aria?" Hanna asked, lacking tact as she chewed her food. Everybody glared at her except for Aria, seemingly unhinged by Hanna's crassness.

"It feels a bit weird, actually." Aria said, sounding almost in pain.

"Let me see." Spencer said, dropping her plate on the floor.

Spencer kept glaring at Hanna until she reached Aria sitting on a chopped log. She began rubbing the surface of the gauze, as if able to tell what was wrong with it.

"Does it feel tender here?" Spencer asked after touching a spot where Aria flinched.

Aria nodded and Spencer proceeded in cutting the bandages open. The burned wound still looked the same. The outlines of her wound were still pink and oddly shaped into perfect circle, similar to the size of the pan that they had used the other day. The middle part was a brighter red, bumpy and some blood was trickling in.

"Shit…" Spencer let out through her teeth, "It opened up a little bit, it was still raw from last night."

Everybody immediately dropped their plates on the ground, readying myself to what we needed to do next.

"It's- It's fine you guys. We just need to keep covering it and Aria, I think it's best if you don't carry anything anymore." Spencer finished.

Spencer grabbed the first aid duffle bag and pulled out a few more alcohol pads. She dabbed some on a shallow cut that was part of the puncture wound. Aria flinched in pain, reminding me that she _had_ been in pain for the longest time. As Spencer started wrapping her stomach with a new set of gauze bandages, Aria grabbed her hand.

"You know I'm more than capable of wrapping gauze on myself right?" Aria said, a little bit flushed from all the help she's been getting.

"Uh, yeah. I know." Was all that Spencer said as she handed the gauze wrap to Aria.

"Thanks. Really Spence, thanks."

Aria finished wrapping the gauze while Spencer came up to me and asked how I was feeling. I was beginning to notice that Spencer used these incidents to keep her balanced and busy. I haven't seen a meltdown from her since the crash.

I told Spencer that I was fine. Tired, but fine. She insisted on listening on my breathing cycles, and asked me questions about pain the glutted feeling inside my lungs.

When nightfall came, everybody fell asleep pretty quickly from the trek, except for me. I couldn't help but stare at the stars again and worry about how tomorrow will be.

"How come you're still awake Em?" Ali asked in a whisper. "Can't sleep?"

I looked at her across the fire pit and nodded. Alison careful got up from her bedroll and tiptoed towards me. When I thought she was about to stop next to me, she kept going, then past me, then motioned to follow her. I got out of my bedroll and began following her where she eventually stopped and sat on a bed of grass.

"Come lie down with me," She said and I did as she told. I laid down on my side on the grass and she did the same where our faces were so close where we were breathing the same air.

"Can't sleep either?" I whispered while trying to get my voice even since my heart was beating so fast from her closeness. This was total Ali-move, I thought. "Why can't you sleep?" I continued.

"I was thinking of you." I didn't know how to reply to that since it's just been so long. I just watched as Alison got on top of me and began kissing my neck with her lips. They were so soft and I could just feel her taking my breath away. She kept kissing my neck and just above my breast where I felt her fingers started unbuttoning my shirt, slowly. All my hands ever did was to hold her on her side.

"Here? Now?" I asked Alison, knowing that Spencer, Aria and Hanna were just a few feet away from us.

"Ssh, we'll be real quiet, and they can't see us." She replied after leaning in and whispering them to my ear.

I stared at the tree that was blocking their view to ours, only seeing the faint light from the fire. I didn't want to do this out in the open, but I really wanted to be with Ali tonight.

Alison brought me back to her world when she finally took out the last button and pushed my open flannel out on my sides. I wasn't wearing any shirt inside or a bra either. We were all sleeping and I wanted to be comfortable from all the heat.

Her fingers began massaging my breasts then my nipples. The simpleness of the touch felt like ecstasy that sent electricity and goose bumps in my body. When she was done using her fingers, her lips began touching my breasts, placing them in her mouth so that she can suck them hard.

My mind was in the stars, and my back was arching while feeling the wetness in between my thighs. Her lips continued on to the middle of my breasts and slowly made its way down my stomach until she reached far past my naval.

I slowly opened my eyes to watch her look at me then used her fingers to unbutton my jeans. She sat up to pull them down leaving me clad with just my bikini underwear. Her lips began touching the top edges of my underwear as she slowly brought them down, and her lips following. I could imagine the outline of them moving along my skin as I felt each soft touch.

"I want to give you something," Ali whispered as she took off her shirt that displayed everything on top.

All my fingers in my hand can do was to caress her breasts as we stared at each others' eyes. And in a few seconds, her body began to lower itself to touch me in places I thought she would never touch me again.

"Oh. My. God." Was all I heard from Hanna and all I saw was her back walking past the bushes next to the tree and towards camp.

"Oh my god! Fuck!" I said through my teeth. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck." I kept rambling as I grabbed my jeans and started pulling them up.

"Oh don't be such a puss, Em. It's not like Hanna had never seen two girls fuck before." Alison's brashness was never fleeting. "Are you seriously getting dressed right now?" She said, frustration in her voice.

"Of course you are, you walk away when things get too hard or uncomfortable for you. You're a selfish slut you know! You were so easy tonight, spreading your legs for me!" Alison screamed, livid.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I yelled at Alison, while rolling my eyes and putting my shirt back on. "I can't believe I fell for that again! You're still the same inconsiderate, manipulative bitch that I broke up with two months ago!" Right when those words left my lips, I began regretting them.

"Don't walk away from me," Alison cried, anger exploding in her voice.

But I kept walking back to camp where everybody was awake and staring at me, except for Hanna. I looked at them, in embarrassment from what they had heard and from what Hanna had seen.

"You didn't break up with me, I ended things with you bitch!" was all I heard from Ali through the bushes behind me.

I had nowhere to hide, so I just went back to my bedroll and I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

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	7. Blood in the Woods

**Blood in the Woods**

I woke up just before sunrise when all the girls were still sleeping. I decided to use this moment to think about what happened with me and Alison earlier this summer and what had happened last night.

I walked past the bed of grass where Alison and I were last night and it looked so different from the shadows casted by the onset of the sun. I began remembering what I had told her before I walked away. The things that I had said that only meant to hurt her at that moment, to make myself feel better and to let out what I've been keeping all this time. But the things that she had said, there was something more to them.

Everybody thought I broke up with her because of what had happened at the opera house when Shana died. But only Alison and I knew the truth to why Shana was out to get us. She loved Ali, but Ali chose to be with me instead. When I found out about it, I decided to break up with Alison. It didn't feel right anymore. I didn't want Shana's blood on my hands.

I kept thinking and walking, trying to put the pieces together. Knowing Ali, every rhetoric has an innuendo of the truth.

I began to notice that I've been walking for a longer time and my legs were moving slower than before. I didn't realizing that I was a little bit farther than where I wanted to go and so I decided that I should trek back- hoping that the girls haven't woken up yet and had gotten worried that I'm not there.

The sun was finally rising altogether and the trees began swaying from the hot breeze, and that's when I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke.

"Ali?" I said out loud hoping that she could hear me.

She must have gone out for a walk after I left too, I thought. But she didn't reply to me calling her name. She probably couldn't hear me from the breeze that the woods were making.

Just as I turned to walk back to camp, I heard a branch break that was literally a few feet away from me. I froze. Emotions flooded back to me from the ones that I had felt two nights ago.

"…Ali?" I said it in a whisper this time. But nobody replied, and I heard another branch crack. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.

The breaking of the branches and the crackling of the leaves were inching towards me, so I ran. I kept moving my legs, dashing out of those set of woods and towards the camp. I was running so fast that my feet were barely touching the ground and my lungs were ready to give out. When I thought that I had lost him, I felt something heavy tackle me to the ground. My head immediately hit the ground first since my good arm couldn't hold my weight.

A hand grabbed my broken arm, twisting it as pain seeped through my body. I couldn't help but turn my body to ease the pain and this led me to face my masked attacker. He was tall and bulky, and he used his heavy weight to pin me to the ground. Adrenaline was kicking in but he was easily overpowering me.

Just before I could scream, he wrapped his fingers around my neck, choking me to oblivion. I tried fighting back but he got his hold on my good arm, where I became completely helpless. The air around me began to thin, gasping for the last trails of air.

But this wasn't the end, I thought. Even with my broken shoulder and busted wrist, I kept patting down the ground around me, until my hand gripped onto what seemed like a rock. I wrapped it around my fingers and swiftly bashed it on his head, crippling him from choking me and escaping his body's hold.

I crawled away from his body since my legs were still under him while I grunted and heaved the air to fill up my lungs once again.

But my attacker wasn't finished yet. I felt fingers gripping my legs as I was pulled to his hold once again.

Not again, not again, I thought. I was in panic this time, I couldn't escape. The adrenaline that I had earlier dissipated, leaving me debilitated with fear. He had stopped choking me and instead his fists were hitting my head. Each punch was worse than the last. Fists pounded my head, hitting and denting the bone to the core. Black and blue spots began filling up my view, and I can feel the cool trickle of blood dripping down my face. The pain was numbing.

And then I heard bone cracking. My attacker had stopped hitting me, just toppling over my side.

Ali had saved me. She had smashed a fallen tree trunk on the back of his head. I pushed him off to the side, still heaving and grunting from the pain that I felt in my chest.

"We need to get out of here!" Ali said, grabbing me by my broken arm and pulling me to run towards camp.

By the time we reached camp, my knees had failed me. I could only watch the blood dripping off my face and hitting the leaves in front of me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. My world was spinning out of my control and I was the only one that kept still in it.

"Oh God," I heard Hanna say, "What the fuck happened Ali?!"

"There was a man…I think he's the same guy…from the road…" Alison began, stammering as she tried catching her breath.

I saw feet huddling around me, grabbing me by my arms so that I could begin sitting up.

"We need to get out of here." Alison continued, her voice cold.

"What man?" Spencer said as she grabbed my face where I could see her eyes with mine. "Can you guys grab the first-aid bag?!"

"Didn't you hear anything that I just had said? We need to get out of here!" Alison screaming this time.

My world began to go black, losing the contrast of the colors in my vision. Everybody was still talking and moving, but I couldn't make out their words anymore. I just heard rambles and yelling until I just stopped trying to listen entirely.

* * *

_There are plenty of ways you get a second chance in life. But usually, it comes with a substantial price. Guilt, a product of second chances can leave you immobilized with regret or it can spark a new passion in the new world. It can leave you broken, frozen and voiceless or it can trigger your consciousness, giving one the ability to adapt and act on situations where you thought you'd never go. But to be consistent, one must have reason to eternalize guilt, molding it to something much more. Revenge. _

* * *

The ceilings were dark and old, and a musty smell filled the room that followed a fresh scent of pine and dirt.

"Hey sleepy head," I heard Aria say, holding down her cheerful tone.

My vision was still clouded so I quickly got up to move my head and follow her voice.

"Hey, easy Em." Hanna continued to my left, pushing me down back on the bed.

I didn't resist, an ache had started once I began moving. I tried making out Hanna's face, squinting as best as I could, but scrunching up my face only gave me more pain.

"I'm…really hurt, am I?" I croaked out. My voice sounded so foreign to me.

Hanna didn't budge or say anything. I began thinking that she probably made an expression that told me so.

"How is she?" I heard Spencer finally ask.

Hanna stood up, clearing the way for two figures that just came in the room. I deducted it to be Alison and Spencer.

"She just woke up," Aria replied.

I was really confused. I didn't know where we were, and I began to panic when I remembered what led me to be so hurt in the first place.

"-A! I saw –A out there!" I yelled out, almost jumping out of my bed.

"Hey, it's okay. He's…gone." Hanna instinctively replied to me as she gently pushed me back to bed again.

I saw another blonde huddle next to Aria and I knew it was Ali from the smell of pines and cigarettes that radiated from her.

"He's gone, Em." Alison began. "Spencer and Hanna came back to where I saw you get attacked and he wasn't there anymore. I think he escaped before we could have caught him."

Alison's voice was sympathetic, but I had an eerie feeling that it was almost icy cold. I felt my heart beating faster than it should, and I couldn't get the nerve-wrecking feeling out of my legs.

"Where are we?" I finally asked, confused since it didn't seem like we were in a cave or a camp again.

I saw Spencer's body sit down next to Hanna, then getting down to my eye-level. I began making out the corners of her face as she squinted her eyes into mines.

"I don't think you can see very well." Spencer said with a little worry in her voice. "We're in your grandparents' cabin."

"Your face is pretty messed up right now Em." Hanna candidly said.

"Not helping Han!" Aria interjected.

"What? I'm just telling it like it is."

My head began pounding again with all the loud voices and the commotion, so I couldn't help but get up from the bed and get some air outside towards what I thought was a door. But as soon as half of my body was up, I felt an intense pain on the side of my chest, leaving me even more breathless. Hands began grabbing my arms and forcing me to go back to the bed, but I instantly pushed them away landing me on my feet on the floor.

I felt my knees about to give out until someone caught me from falling.

"Easy Em, you've lost a lot of blood," I heard Alison say.

I began concentrating my eyes onto her face, slowly making out her eyes and her lips. And in an instant a memory flashed in my mind. I was back in the woods again, bleeding on the ground. Alison was standing right in front of me with a thick tree branch in her hands.

I pushed Alison away as the memory lapsed. I quickly lost balance and I toppled back to the floor. It couldn't be, was it her who had attacked me? I was so confused. My memory felt so displaced and I didn't know who did what anymore.

I just kept staring at her as I crumbled on the floor, fear swallowing me whole once again.

"Em? Are you okay?" Was all Alison said. She looked confused as I was.

I didn't know what to say or what to do. My mind was rattling at me, it felt as though somebody took bits of my memories and rearranged them just for their own fun and games.

I just stared at her, anticipating a move that could be fatal, or was I just imagining things?

Slowly my vision was becoming much clearer. The colors around the room didn't seem out of focus or blurred anymore, but an agonizing pain on the side of my chest still kept me off balance.

Spencer began huddling in front of me, getting to my level. I was crying now, rambling too as I was unbelievably confused and in so much pain. Her palm touched the side of my face and I immediately felt the warmth of her body.

"You're okay Em. No one is going to hurt you here. You're safe." Spencer calmly said.

I nodded and began listening to her soothing voice as she began explaining to me why it was going to be okay.


	8. While You Were Sleeping

**While You Were Sleeping**

* * *

_15 hours earlier - Aria_

"There was a man…I think he's the same guy…from the road…" Alison began, stammering as she tried catching her breath.

Hanna and Spencer ran and huddled around Emily grabbing her by the arms to help sit her up.

"We need to get out of here." Alison continued, an even pace of worry and panic in her voice.

"What man?" Spencer said as she grabbed Emily's face to check her injuries. "Can you guys grab the first-aid bag?!"

I began standing up, clutching onto my stomach to grab the duffle bag, but Hanna stopped me on my tracks.

"Aria, what are you doing?! Sit down before you hurt yourself." Hanna ordered.

I slowly went back to my seat and started to feel pretty pathetic at that moment watching Emily lose so much blood.

"Didn't you hear anything that I just had said? We need to get out of here!" Alison screamed directly to Spencer's ear.

"Fuck, I heard you Ali!" Spencer snapped, while rubbing the insides of her ear. "Can't you see where we are? We're in the fucking middle of nowhere and I don't know if you noticed, but nowhere can stretch out pretty far wherever we go at the moment!" Spencer sarcastically said as she beamed in Alison's face.

"It's better than waiting here and getting attacked again!" Alison replied, her voice going higher and higher as each voice passed.

"Okay, you guys need to calm the fuck down," Hanna intervened.

"Leave out of this Han!" Spencer yelled.

"SHUT! UP!" I screamed, at the top of my lungs. I was already next to Emily holding her steady when I managed to get everyone's attention.  
"I know everybody is really stressed out right now since we have an axe-murderer out there," I said, trying to not let my nerves past through my teeth, "but we don't have time to argue about where were going next. We're in the fucking middle of nowhere Ali, we're pretty much bait, pretty much everywhere" I said as I took a glance at Ali's face, "And we can't stay here anymore Spence. We need to find that cabin," This time looking at Spencer, "but right now Emily needs us the most. I don't know about you guys, but she's turning a little blue."

Spencer immediately dropped to her knees and began asking Emily questions on how she was feeling. But when she didn't respond she told us she couldn't breathe and was going to make an incision on the side of her chest.

"Have you ever done this before?" asked Ali, already knowing the answer to that question.

"No, but it shouldn't be that hard right?" Spencer replied, showing a comforting smile on her face.

"Okay, Hanna I need you to place this blade in the fire pit for about thirty seconds," handing Hanna her survival knife. "Ali, go to my bag and there should be a bottle of whiskey in the big pocket; Aria, keep talking to her so we won't lose her." Spencer asked while unbuttoning Emily's shirt.

I kept my hand massaging Emily's shoulder knowing that it was probably broken and she was in a lot of pain. Her eyes were half-way opened and she seemed almost asleep. She wasn't talking anymore, probably a little dazed from the loss of blood.

"Are you sure this is a good time to drink right now Spence?" I asked, a little confused at Spencer's decisions.

"They're not just for me," Spencer replied as she grabbed the bottle and poured some liquor on a towel and began wiping it on the side of Emily's chest, using it as an anti-bacterial.

Hanna gave her back the blade and she took another swig with the liquor bottle. Then she told us that Emily may not be responding right now but once she feels the blade in her skin, she might start freaking out.

When she said that, we immediately held her down on the dry ground. Spencer began feeling the skin and bone on Emily's side, and I don't really know what she was trying to look for, but when she did figure it out, she made a quick incision- barely giving Emily anytime to react right away. I thought blood would come and spurt out, but it was just a trickle of it as if there was nothing inside of her. Emily whimpered a little bit despite looking pretty lifeless. The real fight came when Spencer began planting a surgical tube from the first-aid pack.

I used my upper body weight to pin her shoulders down and I tried telling her that it was going to be okay. Our parents were going to find us in a couple of days and all of this will be over.

I began telling her what we should do when we get home, what food we miss and where we should go shopping. And by the time I ran out of things to calm Emily down about, Spencer was already taping the tubes and the small jar of water on the side of her chest. The next thing I knew, Emily was already passed out and sleeping.

I loosen my grip on her shoulders and immediately slouched down to the ground. My stomach was aching, but for anything else, it was a great feeling that I felt after. We just saved Emily's life.

Everybody was relieved as I am, even Ali who looked like she was about to have a heart attack began breathing evenly again. We sat on the ground for a while, trying to breathe in the fresh and clean air around us, hoping that this small moment of ease won't be as short-lived as the rest.

"We still need to get out of here," Alison started with her palms planted on the ground.

"I know." Spencer replied. I was surprised that there were no comebacks or sarcasm. It was just a simple 'I know".

Hanna and Alison began packing while Spencer checked on my injury, knowing that I did move a lot and used some energy helping Emily out. When everything was good as it felt, we began our trek again to Emily's grandparents' cabin.

* * *

_Present - Emily_

Red and yellow liquid seeped through the clear surgical tube that was connected to the side of my chest. Apparently I was still conscious when Spencer was making the incision then while planting it through my lungs. I don't remember any of it.

Spencer began taping the initial part of the tube next to my chest that was connected to a small narrow plastic jar on my chest. The plastic jar itself was halfway filled with water that looked like it was turning into ale. It was such a small container that they have been taking turns draining it every hour. The draining itself left me dehydrated and we were lucky enough that the cabin had water pipes that were still connected to the basin.

"There you go, all you need to do is not move." Spencer said, attempting to comfort me with her sarcasm.

"I need to use the bathroom." I replied, frustration in my voice. I didn't feel like cracking jokes tonight, my head was still pounding and it felt as if somebody just stepped on my face.

"Okay." She said, already holding me to walk towards the door.

I gently pushed her away and told her that I needed to be alone. Spencer gave me that look of sympathy that I have been absolutely avoiding and defiant about, but I kept a straight face, telling her through my body language to just back off. As I got inside, I locked the door behind me and immediately looked at the mirror.

Hanna was right, my face is messed up, I told myself. My right cheek was busted and red, and a reddish brown crescent had formed under my right eye as well. I can't simply overlook the cut that Spencer probably patched up over my right eye.

I began turning the faucet on and splashed the cold water on my face. It was so cool and refreshing that I decided to grab a towel and drench it cold to let it sit on my face for a bit.

While looking in the mirror, I couldn't help but think how things have gotten this bad. It can't be worse than this, with –A beating you to death with their punches, I thought.

I kept looking at myself, carefully looking at the swollen areas, the cuts and the bruises and couldn't help but feel but so angry and so helpless at the same time. –A or whoever my attacker was, easily overpowered me, they won't have a chance with him either. We needed to make a plan.

The memories began to lapse again, only this time, my attacker was on top of me hitting me with his fist again, and again and again, and again. I flinched at the thought, but my mind kept replaying it over and over again.

"Em?" I heard Hanna call me through the door as the doorknob shimmied from side to side. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah" I said, pulling the door open, "just cooling of."

Hanna gave me an odd smile and told me that food was ready.

* * *

We all sat on the floor considering that there were only three chairs and two of them were creaking.

"Eat up Em, Spencer caught this earlier today! And that is an awesome sorry to tell-" Hanna began.

"Uh, no. It's an awesome story for YOU to tell Hanna, I on the other hand got unbelievably wet trying to catch this mongrel of a fish." Spencer cutting her off as she took a bite of fish out of her fork.

"No, no you have to hear this." Hanna continued, "We had to use a long-ass branch and stuck that knife at the end. She was going cave-woman plowing for fish in the lake earlier! Good job Grylls, you've saved us once again!" Hanna yapped while laughing at the same time.

Alison and Aria listened while Aria laughed at Spencer's fleeting exasperation. I began tuning them out while I loomed at the idea of the man outside these walls. I slowly looked around me, checking each corner and crevice making sure that there wasn't a chance of the maniac getting inside. I stared at the door, remembering that it had a chain lock back then, now it's probably old and rusty.

"Em?" I heard Alison who was next to me call my name.

"Huh?" I turned around back to look at her, but everybody else was also quietly looking at me.

"I asked how your food was…" Alison continued,

I haven't touched the food on my plate. It wasn't because it didn't look appetizing, it was just I didn't have an appetite nor was it easy to eat at the moment.

"Here, let me-" Alison finally said and began cutting the fish into small bits. "I forgot you can't use your right hand…and you can't really eat big bits either."

I flashed a wry smile at her and began eating the small bits of fish that tasted like nothing. I could only taste the blood in my gums as my swollen cheek kept bumping into my teeth to chew.

Everybody continued to stare at me though, as if me eating was their form of TV.

"..what?" I asked, bewildered, "my face isn't that bad…?" I said as I placed my fork on my empty plate.

"No, it's just…" Spencer began after looking around, "you almost died over there…again." She finished.

"The guy beat me to a pulp, not to death." I corrected her.

The room became even more silent. I was confused to where this was getting at.

"No, Em, you did almost die out there." Alison said while placing her hand on mines.

"You don't get to do that anymore," I said as I pulled my hand away. "I'm fine, we're fine." I said, frustration filling up inside me.

"Em, you don't understand do you?!" Hanna said, her voice a little louder and serious. "You've lost a pint of blood already and you're still losing some! Somebody drilled their fists on your face and you don't even notice that you sound like a broken engine breathing that way!" She finished as her voice was getting louder by the minute.

"Em, all we're saying is we're worried about you. And you don't seem to understand that we're getting hit again and again and we don't really have some doctor or medical supply to survive us." She said calmly while rubbing Hanna's shoulder to calm her down.

"We've just been getting lucky, Em." Aria finally said, her voice trailing of.

"You don't think I don't know that? You think I'm so oblivious in dying? Why?! Because I'm like a robot that feels or shows no emotion?!" I finally snapped.

Did they want me to cower and cry whenever I tripped down and fell? I was livid, this entire situation was impossible enough and now they're making me feel so ridiculous.

"No, Em, we don't think that!" Hanna said. "We just think you haven't really talked about this."

"There's nothing to talk about. –A tried to kill me, and he failed." I bellowed, grinding my teeth.

"He tried to choke me with his hand around my neck while he pinned me down!" I continued, my voice a little bit cracking this time.

"He-he used his body to pin my legs down so I couldn't move, I couldn't escape."

"and then he was jabbing his fists, and those knuckles, I remember those knuckles smashing on my cheeks, denting them….and his face… I couldn't see his face," I said, finally leting out a small cry and couldn't help but cover my mouth to stop letting out the words that continued to break me.

Hanna stood up from across from me and was the first one to place her arms around me. Spencer and Aria followed, then Ali. We stayed there huddled together as I cried knowing that –A had done something that we've all been trying to avoid for two whole years. –A had finally achieved something that he had been failing to do despite the blackmails, despite the lies that we had to make. –A had broken me.

* * *

**Read & Review please!**

**Thank you for all the great and helpful reviews! Here are my responses to some of them that have usernames, for my guest reviews: Thank you!  
**

razmataz13drums: Thank you, I like to write every chapter with a least a heap of drama to keep you guys reading! Yes, Alison is a character that has a lot of dynamics. I think that she's just grown into a person where it's easy for her to shut of and break away from people when things become heated or uncomfortable for her. It's sort of like she's mirroring what she told Emily from the chapter, "Let's Kiss and Make-Up", which was a semi-steamy and very intense scene. I love Hanna! Her character is just the high light of my night when I watch the shows. Her jokes are so witty and clever in a very stereotypical "blonde" way (but we all know the writers are geniuses for this)! Spencer is amazing, she delivers so well with her character's skills and knowledge. And lastly, I hope I can give Aria some voice in this chapter. She's been overshadowed a lot because of her injury. -A is a sneaky bitch, he's up to a lot of things. ;)

Che: Yes, that scene was really intense. It felt right using that dialogue with them. Hope you've read the books and/or watched the show- the books are more intense or their dialogues and I'm pretty sure Emily had said, those words but not in one scene. Thanks for commenting! :)

OnlyOne: Thank you! I try my best and will continued to do so!


	9. Only the Wind Can Carry Secrets

**Only the Wind Can Carry Secrets**

_Present – Emily_

I woke up at dawn with a nightmare that left me drenched through my shirt. I went straight to the bathroom washing myself and trying to cool my head that was already pounding in the early hours. I couldn't help but avoid looking at the mirror in front of me. I didn't want to remind myself what I looked like from the outside, but I knew that if I needed to beat this, I needed to able to look at myself even if I was broken and beat. But that wasn't today; I couldn't look at myself yet.

I came outside the bathroom while I tied my hair into a ponytail. I haven't had the chance to take a bath or wash my hair for three days, and frankly I think I've gotten used to the griminess in my body.

My eyes can see much better, only going out of focus when I'm looking at something that is a quarter of a full-length swimming pool, if that makes any sense. I counted the bodies sleeping on the bedrolls, counting two brunettes, knowing one is Aria and the other is Spencer, and then counting one blonde, immediately recognizing the features of her body. Alison.

As I walked outside the cabin, hoping to find Hanna somewhere, the cool morning breeze immediately hit my face. A combination of the sodden earth, fallen leaves and damp lake smell filled the air, and I couldn't help but breath them all in. I was walking barefoot at the time, feeling the soil push through in between my toes as I took each step.

Once I got out to a clearing where the lake shore was a few yards away, her blonde hair stood out. She was sitting on a wet patch of dirt, her body turned towards the water.

When I was getting closer and about to call out her name, I noticed the copper-colored whiskey bottle in her hand that she took a couple of swigs at, through the minute. I

"Hey Han," I said, as I sat next to her right side on the dirt, but kept my eyes on the ripples of the water.

I saw her body jolt up really quick, surprised that I was awake this early. She tried hiding the bottle on her left side, but failed very miserably.

"I thought you were done with this." I said, my eyes now looking at her face while keeping her head down.

"I am, this… this is different. I'm just enjoying the view..." She replied meekly then taking another swig off the bottle.

"I can smell the alcohol in your breath, Han." I said back, my voice still calm and even.

"Well, maybe I had a few… so what?" she slurred. "So the fishes in this lake won't be cook to perfection today; we'll live." Hanna replied, taking another swig.

"Cut the crap, Hanna." I said my voice still low and even as I rubbed the corners of my eyes with my left hand. "You could have talked to me." I said, being gentler this time.

"There's nothing to talk about. I just had a little too much to drink." Hanna said, sounding almost oblivious.

This was typical Hanna, I thought. Retreating to alcohol when things got a little too shaky and uncomfortable. Things had been difficult these last couple of days, but I thought she was holding up well as far as I've seen.

"If there isn't anything wrong, then give me the bottle." I asked, trying to make a point.

She scoffed, almost ticked off at the idea of giving me the bottle, but I kept my hand waiting by her side.

"You don't need to do this again Em." She finally replied after a gulp of whiskey in her mouth. "Not here, not now, not ever."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, matching the high pitch of my voice with her last trailing words. "What's going on?! I know things have been on the edge lately with –A in these woods. But you know that _this_ isn't how we solve our problems Han. We need everybody to have a clear head!"

"Well maybe I have other things that I need to think about," Hanna screamed as she stood up and began walking away from me.

I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what the hell she was talking about and frankly I think it's the alcohol. I began following her, but she started walking faster than I was and she was heading towards the woods.

"Just leave me alone, Em. I want to be left alone." Hanna kept on walking, stomping around the fallen leaves, furious.

"Wait, Han! Hanna!" I said as I tried getting her to stop heading towards the woods. But my bare feet kept poking through rocks and twigs and it was making me more frustrated than I already was. When I finally did reach her, I went around her and grabbed the liquor bottle off her hand.

"Give it back Em!" Hanna screamed, as she tried to pry it out of my arms.

"No, you've had enough!" I screamed back while pulling away from her hands. She managed to push me down that led both of us falling to the ground.

When she finally grabbed it from my hands, my side was already in pain.

"Oh god, I-I'm so-sorry, Em," she said, garbling her words. Hanna sounded much more subdued- probably from the look of pain on my face.

"It's o-kay. I'm fine." I managed to reply back, eating my words as the pain was much more lasting than I anticipated.

I began clutching my side, and felt dampness on my shirt.

"Oh my god, you're bleeding!" Hanna yelled, "I'm going to get Spencer!" she continued,

"No, wait. It's fine." I quickly said, putting her to a stop. "I probably just need…new dressing." I finished.

"Okay, there's some in the cabin. Do you need help walking?"

"No, seriously, Han. I'm fine."

We walked back to the cabin and she insisted on helping me walk. When we got to the cabin, I told her that I'd rather not let the others know the scuffle between her and I and I insisted to change the dressing here outside. It wasn't because I didn't want the others to know about Hanna's drunkenness, I just didn't want to be the center of the pity hole. Hanna flashed me a crooked smile and ran inside the cabin to grab more gauze.

The tube that Spencer planted was accidentally pulled out, and it made sense to why I was bleeding.

"See, I told you I was fine." I told Hanna, reassuring her that I wasn't hurt.

I poured some alcohol on my side, feeling the stinging burn from the raw flesh, and then poured some on the tube end. I slowly re-inserted it, breathing in as if I'll feel less pain from the foreign object inside my body.

"God, Em… I'm so, so, sorry. I didn't mean to have this happen. I was just-", she trailed off; unsure with the reason to why she was drinking again.

"It's about Zack, isn't it?" I said. It was the first thing that I could have thought of. The last time she was in this binge alcohol phase was when her dad left her a few years back. Now, I can't help but think that there's more to what happened with Zack and Hanna than she's letting on. Just the thought of this left a silent chill running up my spine.

Hanna's glossy blue eyes stared down on the damp dirt. Her blonde hair got caught in a breeze and strands began to shade her pale face. I placed the liquor bottle in front of her- in between her knees where we were sitting and placed a ring of hair onto my finger to push behind her ear.

"What happened Hanna? Did he…?" I began asking, pushing my way gently through her shields.

Tears began to form and fall the corner of Hanna's eyes. She quickly wiped them with her hand then took a swig from the whiskey bottle. She began looking away and I couldn't help but place a hand on her shaking knee.

"I-I told him, that I didn't want to", Hanna began to stammer while slurring her words. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks, but there were no cries that left her lips. Her knees began to shake and her body began to move. I could see that she was anxious and it was eating her up inside.

"But, he wouldn't…stop. He…" Hanna covered her mouth with her hand. "He…h-hurt me", she finally said. My insides felt like it was in knots. I grabbed her shoulders and surrounded her with my arms. Her head laid down against my chest as she finally let out whimpers. It was as if her cries were the echoes of her secrets, a secret that she had been holding on for months. I knew what had happened. She didn't need to tell me the rest or use the words that defined what he was and what he did.


End file.
